The Return of Barbossa
by Julia Green
Summary: Jack crashes Will and Elizabeth's wedding for another adventure. Unfortunately another sea captain has something to say about it all, and Captain Jade joins their crew; Secret plots will be revealed and few will remain alive-pre: love, death, dishonesty
1. Wedding Preparations or The Stranger

Anna and Gladys rushed around the room, back and forth, making their mistress nervous. Their eyebrows were furrowed and eyes were squinting as the worked, looking for the various items needed to clean their mistress up. Without any words or even eye-catches each knew exactly what they had to do and exactly what the other would do. They'd been dressing and preparing the same girl, now woman, together for the past twenty years, her entire life. They usually did so in a long, drawn-out, but all the same efficient way, but today was different; today their mistress was getting married.  
  
Finally Anna stopped her rushing and Gladys soon followed suit, both surrounding the poor woman and 'making her pretty' as they said. Anna brushed through her hair quite roughly while Gladys tightened the corset. Soon both were done with their task and had moved onto putting on the actual dress for Gladys and applying make-up for Anna. After an hour and a half, their mistress was ready, and if it had been proper to do so, they would have exclaimed at how well they had done, but it was not and so they held their pride within them.  
  
"If you don't mind me saying, Miss, you look lovely," Anna said, the bravest of the two, though a timid woman all the same. Her eyes looked up at her mistress almost pleadingly, hoping not to be chastised. To most, this situation would have looked funny, seeing a much older woman be so careful about her words around such a young woman.a girl, in fact, as she was thus far unmarried. But, that was the way it was, and both parties were quite used to their roles, so used to them in fact that had they been switched none would have known what to do.  
  
"Thank you," she said quietly, nodding to Anna and Gladys. The two women understood her nod and left the room, ready to walk back up to the manor. Neither was invited to the wedding, as they were just maids, and they were prepared to do their duty by going back to the house and cleaning, though neither did so with much of a light heart.  
  
As the sun set, the two women could be seen climbing up the hill, neither speaking to each other nor to those they passed, those on their way to the wedding. Their black dresses announced to all that passed that they were maids, low servants deserving nothing; not even a tip of a hat or a smile. And they didn't get either, that is until they passed a very peculiar man, not dressed at all properly for a wedding, nor for any occasion.  
  
His clothes were ragged, dirty, and torn, as was everything else that the man wore. Even his hair and skin looked tattered and unclean, though he was not at all old and obviously not poor if he was heading for the wedding. No, this man was very odd indeed, and it was Anna's and Gladys' feeling that they should stay away from him from the moment they saw him. So, both women moved to the far side of the road, giving him plenty of room, but, for whatever reason, the man simply stepped closer to the women. He continued to move towards them as they moved away until the two women were walking up in the ditch and he was walking down the very edge of the road. As they passed the two women shuddered, but the man clasped his two hands together, and copying the Asian greeting, bowed to the women and offered a friendly, "'ello there loves." 


	2. The Wedding That Was To Be

Chapter 2  
  
Back down the hill, the "mistress" was still getting ready. Her hair and make-up were finished, and her dress was all laced up, there was nothing left to be done now, and yet she was still in the dressing room (and taking far too long, in the opinion of her father who was standing outside.) She stood in front of a dresser, staring at her reflection in the mirror and fingering something in the top drawer. All that could be seen of it was a slight glint from the lights when it was tilted just so, but she didn't need to see it, she just needed to hold it for a moment, to feel its comfort.  
  
The cold, golden piece lay in her warm hands within the drawer. Her rubbed all over it, covering up the skeleton's face that was etched into it on both sides in her nervousness. There were no butterflies in her stomach but snakes as she prepared to leave the room and walk down the aisle. The man whom she was to marry had made her the trinket that she now held, in remembrance of a journey the two had been on not too long ago; it was the reason that they were doing this now, getting married. If it had not been for the original, one of 882 identical pieces of Aztec gold, they would have never admitted their love for each other. She would already be married to a richer, more socially acceptable man, and he would be in his shop making swords. Their paths, which had been crossed for so long, would have parted, all because of a dumb piece of gold.  
  
She stood there contemplating this for a while. Were they really meant to be together? After all, if such a small thing was the only reason that they were together, was there also a very small thing keeping them together? How long would they last? Maybe her father and everyone else were right.maybe she should have married.  
  
"Elizabeth, are you almost ready?" came the Governor's voice from outside.  
  
"Yes, father. I'll be out in a minute," she said, thrusting the gold piece away and heading for the door. This was the right thing to do, she thought to herself as she reached the doorknob and twisted it. "I love Will," she whispered so silently that no one heard it but her, as the door opened and her father's figure appeared.  
  
"Oh Elizabeth, you look absolutely stunning," he said, his eyes getting teary.  
  
She smiled at him and nodded in thanks as he pulled her into an embrace.  
  
"This is the right path for you, I can feel it," he said a tear finally leaving his eye. He smiled brightly to cover it up and wiped it off with the back of his hand. Then, offering his arm, which she took, he lead her down the hallway to the main hall of the fort. It was the same place where Elizabeth had stood two years ago, watching Commodore Norrington's reception just hours before the adventure that had changed her life and ended her with a pirate's love had begun.  
  
The two stopped when they reached the doorway, ready to walk in at the 'opportune moment.' When that moment came, the doors were opened by two male servants and then, Elizabeth caught sight of Will. She smiled warmly at him, the snakes that ailed her now gone, and he returned the smile. Governor Swann and led his daughter in step, carefully noting everyone of importance around and half-bowing to each of them. He was a bit disappointed that Commodore Norrington was not present, but he had had pirate battles to take care of just off the coast and would be away for the next month.  
  
The two reached the front of the procession after what seemed like an hour to Elizabeth and after a brief hug, her father sat down in the front row, leaving her to her fate. Will reached out for her hand, surprised by its coldness, but glad for the comfort it gave him. This is the right thing to do, he thought to himself as they turned toward the priest. "I love Elizabeth," he whispered so silently that only he heard it, as the priest began to speak.  
  
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today." he began, but the rest of the speech was lost as a loud bang sounded from behind the nervous couple. 


	3. The Captain

The Captain  
  
The waters of the Caribbean were still and the sails of all ships were flat and dragging. Captains all over the ocean cursed the winds for not blowing, the sun for shining, and the tide for slowing. It seemed that the three elements were working against them purposefully and with malice, trying to destroy the careers of pirates and soldiers alike. And no matter how much both cursed them, the sun kept beating and the wind kept failing. Many pirates, being as superstitious as they are, were convinced that it was a curse thrown upon them. And in a way it was, though they would never know whose fault the curse was nor would they ever know how it had been taken care of. A howling laughter set through the still air and waters, frightening such pirates and sending many overboard and shaking the many skeptics throughout the Caribbean. The laughter went on for minutes, getting louder and louder and more maniacal as it went. No one knew where it had come from, though several guesses were made. And after a few minutes of indulgence, Captain Barbossa quit his laughter and left the area, allowing the clouds to cover the sun, the tide to rise, and the wind to howl again.  
  
-----  
  
A small boat came into shore just a few miles from the fort of Port Royal where the wedding was being held. The boat carried one woman, though if anyone had asked, she would have said that she was carrying the boat rather than the other way around. Her tanned skin was covered in a light sweat from a combination of the suns' heat and the exertion from paddling with out any aid from the tide and wind. Her long, brown hair filled with scarlet colored beads and one piece of jade, stuck to her skin, as did her clothing.  
  
As she touched the shore, the woman jumped up and out of the boat, throwing the oars into it. She took nothing with her except the clothes she wore the sword and gun that hung from her belt, and a small pouch of coins that she kept in her pocket. Her blue-gray eyes scanned the horizon, trying to find out where she was, as she walked up the deserted beach into what looked like the main town.  
  
An extremely tall, gray building stood before her and she quickly realized it was the town's fort. She decided to head up that way, knowing that every navy in the Caribbean would be out stopping those pirate wars way off coast; hopefully this one hadn't left anyone behind to get in her way. It looked promising enough from where she stood.  
  
Five minutes later she was standing a-top that same building looking down toward the ocean for any ships that might be available. She'd gathered little information since leaving her boat. She was on an island that she'd heard of before once or twice, a place she knew enough about to know that it was not the place for a pirate captain to take up, at least not for very long. The town she was in was called Port Royal, and thankfully their entire navy was indeed out battling "those vicious pirates" as the old woman standing outside the fort had put it. After a little questioning, the little old woman had also told her that the governor's daughter was getting married at the fort today, though that was hardly anything of consequence.  
  
"Weddings? I love weddings!" came a soft voice from behind her. The piratess swung around, recognizing the voice, but quickly turned the other way. "What are you thinking girl? This is no time to be hearing voices and certainly no place to be thinking about a dead pirate." She whispered to herself, gazing out at the ocean again. How on earth was she going to find a boat and crew here, of all places in the Caribbean? Well, it certainly wasn't going to happen if she just stood here watching the sea, now was it?  
  
She looked out at the ocean just one more time, still not seeing any ships worth even a seconds' glance, and left the spot. She climbed down the stairs carefully, glancing all about her for any sudden appearances of guards or anything, and not seeing any, reached the bottom of the fort. Just as she was about to walk back into the main town, she heard a gunshot go off behind her. Thinking that a guard must have spotted her, she began to run in the opposite direction, right up a hill to what seemed to be a large forested area; the perfect place to hide.  
  
She rushed up the hill, all the way to the top, not even bothering to look back, though she knew early on that there was no one following her. The shot had gone off at the fort, and whoever had fired it had stayed there. Reflecting upon the situation, she didn't even know if the shot had been fired toward her. Perhaps it was some sort of odd wedding ritual they had in this area?  
  
It didn't really matter, though. As she neared the top of the hill, she saw a large house pop seemingly out of nowhere. Immediately she rushed behind a small bush on the path she had been taking worried about being spotted and shot. She looked around carefully and, sure enough, there were two women walking into the house, not too far ahead of her. They didn't look dangerous, but in a town of "normies" (a demeaning term used by pirates in reference to all non-pirate people) if there were women around there were bound to be several more men and most of them were probably armed. From the looks of the house someone very important lived there. For one it was on top of the largest hill on the island, overlooking the entire thing and most of the surrounding ocean. Secondly, it was quite a bit bigger and fancier than any other building in the town was; most of the others being quite small and falling apart. Finally, the two women now walking into the mansion were obviously maids and the person opening the door for them was surely a butler. Yes, this was certainly the house of that governor whose daughter was getting married down at the fort and she knew that if she didn't get herself out of there quickly one of the governor's servants or guards would have her killed.  
  
She ran quickly across the yard, the second the door had been closed. It wasn't that she was afraid of death, not at all in fact, nor did she have much to live for at this point. The reason she ran was because of the idea that a famous captain, such as herself, would have to suffer the dishonor of dying on land, killed by a governor's minion. She scoffed at the idea as she ran, keeping herself from view of any of the windows. Once on the other side of the mansion, and hidden fairly well within the forest, she slowed her pace to a walk and made her way to its end, a drop-off waterfall into the ocean. 


End file.
